Single motherhood

Nothing new to report except that I'm into Day 5 of single motherhood (half way through) and really looking forward to the day Jose comes back.  Normally in Cincinnati I would have lots of things to do with the kids over the weekend (zoo, aquarium, friends, etc.) but here (especially on Sundays) there's just not that much to do.  I tried to coerce them into going into the park yesterday (the beach seems to be out of the questions now that we're fully into Fall-like weather) but Gabi is a little lazy these days so she just wanted to stay home pretty much all day.  We ordered a pizza which arrived two hours late so everyone was about to gouge the other person's eyes out from starvation.  I've never seen the kids each with such gusto! The rest of the time was spent trying to break up fights between the two kids -- they fight over EVERYTHING these days! Mostly because Gabi doesn't want to share with Sebas and because Sebas wants whatever Gabi doesn't want to share with him.  I wonder if they will ever get out of this stage and if I will have any non-gray hairs when this happens. The monotony of all this fighting was interruprted only by the exciting task of trying to find Borges the cat who got lost for like 4 hours (after sunset) and I thought had been lost for good. And Sebas naked in the street screaming "BORGES COME BACK!" And Gabi super upset at prospect of having losing him saying "Mommy we will miss him very much" but as upset as they both were I think I was waaaay more upset. I honestly don't know what I would've done if I had lost him for sure -- I probably would've made Jose come back immediately, with another cat in tow of course. Especially because in the last 3 days Gabi has become obsessed with the idea of adopting a kitten. And I won't ponder about Borges' reduced life span (my previous cat lasted 16 years, Borges is 8 now) because the thought of losing him is too much to bear especially now that the kids are much more aware of his existence and actually love the little furball.

I'm grateful for two things however: 1) that unlike ever since we got here Sebas is actually going to sleep fairly easily (he's giving us hell since we took him off the crib since it's so easy for him to get out and he just starts playing with all the toys in his room instead of wanting to go to sleep) and 2) as bad as this sounds -- for getting a much needed break by having to come into work! I hope that doesn't sound horrible but taking care of a toddler and a preschooler all by myself is just physically and mentally draining. I know I probably sound like a broken record but I really don't know how single moms do it. I'm also really grateful for the Kindle (especially the iPad version!) which has helped me get some needed distractions in the late hours once both kids are in bed and I need to relax a little before I can go to sleep.  In fact I've read more since we moved to Geneva than I have in the last year.  I'm reading "Super Sad True Love Story" and it's such a bizarre but beautifully written book that I can't put it down. The Kindle is truly a life-changing device! The only thing that makes me sad about the Kindle is not being able to finish and book and hand it over to Jose and say "here, read this, it's awesome you'll really like it".  So when I end up reading a book that I love I sometimes order the printed version for Jose -- I must be the ultimate Amazon consumer buying books TWICE! My re-kindled (no pun intended) passion for reading is what prompted the new blog design. :)

This morning we went to Gabi's school by bus beacause the car situation is just a nightmare. She complained that she wanted to watch DVD's in the car but all in all behaved pretty well.  I probably got to work around the same time I would've in the car with the major difference being that I wouldn't have found parking had I brought the car in.  So I think we'll  be busing it the rest of the week at least until Jose comes back and we can decide on a more permanent strategy.  At least in October once Gabi turns 5 she'll be able to ride the school bus and we won't have to worry about this.